Arriva London starts running TfL bus route 48 service this Saturday

Arriva London is pleased to have been awarded the contract to operate TfL bus route 48 between Walthamstow Central and London Bridge.

The new contract starts this Saturday 25th February operating from Ash Grove garage in Hackney, requiring 70 drivers and 25 buses.

To present a seamless overnight transition from the current operator to Arriva a major mobilisation plan has been in place leading up to the change. Buses from within the current Arriva London fleet have moved to Ash Grove to start the contract ahead of operation with the new style of Routemaster buses later this year.

Arriva London Commercial Director Peter Batty said:-

“It has been a tremendous team effort across our business to prepare for this contract with new drivers recruited and a complex cascade of buses, all to be in the right place at the right time ready for the weekend. Our experience of starting routes 157 and 333 in south London in the last couple of months proved a great learning curve with new contract mobilisation, so we are confident that route 48 settles down in the same way to provide our customers with the high standard of service they expect”

Route 48 operates for almost 21 hours of the day from just after 5am to the last one arriving at Walthamstow shortly before 2am, with the service running every 8 minutes during the day.

If you would like to start a career as a driver with Arriva London, please click here to apply.

It is not an easy task to design artwork for a bus over 11m long, over 4m high and 2.5m wide, but there were approximately 538 entries from several Primary schools! The sheer number and standard of entries was overwhelming!

The London Bus Awards gives TfL and bus operators the opportunity to recognise the commitment demonstrated on a daily basis from drivers, support teams and frontline TfL staff. The London bus network would not be the same without people of such a high calibre as those nominated for the awards.